The present invention relates to an automated apparatus for lining the inner wall of a vessel with bricks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a brick laying apparatus comprising a work platform which is vertically movable within the vessel and capable of rotating about the vertical axis of the latter. The work platform is provided with at least one hoist comprising a plurality of telescopic sections. Carriages, for lifting the bricks, run along the length of the hoist. The carriages transport bricks from a depalletization station situated at the foot of the hoists to the level of the platform. A depalletization robot is included which transfers the bricks from a reserve of pallets to the carriages which run along the hoists. Also included are a supervision cabin, and a robot for handling and laying the bricks.
Although not being limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is aimed more particularly at an apparatus for laying a refractory lining on the inner wall of a metallurgical converter.
Various robotized apparatus of this type (see for example, German Patent Document No. DE-A1-3710009 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,789, all of the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference) have already been proposed. In this known apparatus, the carriages of the hoists carry two bricks, or at most two pairs of bricks. The bricks may be of two different types if the handling robot is designed for laying a pair of superimposed bricks in each operation. This requires that the two carriages make numerous forward and return trips along the hoist. These trips must be made at a very rapid rate to follow the working rhythm of the handling robot, which presents problems as the hoist progressively rises to brick up the top part of the converter. Also, each carriage must bring the brick, or the two bricks, down again, if the brick or bricks are not of the type required by the handling robot at the moment of laying. This results in heavy stresses on both the drive and guide means. These stresses are particularly heavy as the bricks are laid on the carriage in a direction which exert a relatively high moment on the guide rollers.